November 2025. It seems far away, but it is the date set for the return of astronauts to the Moon after decades without human presence on our natural satellite. The POTmeanwhile, rubs his hands.
This week, the US space agency announced that the Artemis II mission will take place in November 2024, that is, one year before Artemis III.
As he recalls a report published on the website of computer todaythe Artemis I mission ended on December 11 after 25 days in space with the Orion spacecraft hovering around the galactic surroundings of our natural satellite, successfully, without crew members and with dummies with sensors that measured radiation, forces, pressure and other data.
On Artemis II, NASA will send four astronauts, including one Canadian, but the names of those chosen have not yet been revealed. The truth is that in this mission they will not land on the Moon, but will circle around it.
“We’re on the hunt for that Artemis II crew. At the moment there is nothing to stop us after what we learned with Artemis I”, said Jim Free, associate administrator of NASA, in a press conference.
Artemis III and the return to the Moon
If Artemis II replicates the success of the first mission, in November 2025 Artemis III will send four more astronauts, a crew that could include a woman, a non-Caucasian person and a European, that they will touch the lunar surface.
Artemis III has the banner of taking astronauts to the lunar south pole, but meeting this goal on time depends on getting the hardware needed for the landing ready in time: a lunar lander, which would be a version of SpaceX’s Starship, and new space suits, developed by Axiom Space.